Currently drilling of certain metals is nearly impossible due to vibrations imposed on a work piece by a drilling tool during drilling operations. Carbide drilling tools are often employed in the drilling of metal owing to hardness of the carbide metal composition which makes the drilling tool more durable, drill faster and last longer than non-carbide drilling tools. Also, the drilling tool tips of carbide bits tend to maintain a cutting edge longer during use which makes them ideal for the processing of metals. The hardness of the carbide metal, however, has the drawback in that carbide is thus relatively brittle compared to non-carbide counterparts and is known to break when processing a work piece which tends to vibrate. The resulting vibrations are transferred from the work piece to the drilling tool during drilling contact. Quickly, the relative brittleness of the carbide gives way to the vibrations and the drilling tool breaks, thus rendering it useless. Therefore, in order to avoid breakage of the drilling tools, one must drill metals when using a carbide drill slower than optimal speed which results in lower than optimal productivity rates and an increase in man hours required to complete a task.
Furthermore, the vibrations created by processing a work piece is a cause of poor quality of the resultant bore, which is unacceptable in many parts. Therefore, in order to maintain the quality of a bore, an operator of the drilling apparatus must drill at a lower drilling speed. However, in the interests of productivity, this not a viable long-term solution to maintain bore quality. Reducing the vibrations in the work piece also aids in maintaining bore quality as well as allow for more efficient drilling of a work piece to increase productivity.
Several methods of reducing work piece vibrations during drilling have been tried. For example, previous attempts include reducing the speed of drilling, varying the drill speed during the course of drilling or processing and applying excessive foot pressure to secure the work pieces. However, none of these conventional approaches have proved satisfactory for reducing or substantially eliminating work piece vibrations during drilling to maintain the integrity of carbide cutting edges and corresponding work piece quality.
There is a need to provide a vibration-limiting work piece supporting device for limiting vibrations caused by drilling to maintain drilling tool integrity and bore quality.